To Serve
by NightWithMoon
Summary: This is a not so innocent wizarding world, in which Harry is the pawn everyone wants. What happens when too many people try to use the same pawn? - at some point he may just cease to be a pawn at all.
1. Chapter 1

"Enter." The command was quiet but sharp; the voice conveyed a calm confidence without bluster.

Jocobe did as the voice prompted and entered the austere office of The Highest of The Guild, allowing the door to swing quietly shut behind him. "Highest. I come before you that I may serve." It was a formal greeting but it was voiced in such a way that his great respect for the man behind the position came across clearly.

"Young Jocobe, how is it that you can serve The Guild today?" Another formal response and only those who were intimately familiar with Marius Abbertrés would have heard the hind of fondness in the Highest's voice.

"Highest, I have found a student for The Guild; a student that holds greater promise than any previous." Jocobe had to repress the urge to nervously lick his lips, if he wanted The Highest to accept his proposal then he would need to present it perfectly, otherwise it would be dismissed out of hand.

The Highest raised his eyebrow in mocking question, "Greater promise than any other, you say, young Jocobe. Who, pray tell, could possibly have gained such attention?" He was slightly intrigued, but the fact that Jocobe had not simply stated that there was a possible new apprentice for the guild, as he normally would, made Marius wary.

"This particular individual is younger than we would normally accept as an apprentice; however, in this case that is all to the better as it allows us to secure our position in his life before he is influenced by others. Besides his age there is only one reason you could have for not accepting him, and it is to his and our advantage to ignore it."

Marius lifted that same eyebrow again, somehow conveying his slight amusement and annoyance. Dropping formality in favor of addressing his former apprentice plainly he drawled, "Oh, after that ringing endorsement that contained so many clear and obvious details, I cannot help but sit on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the greatness of the mystery individual; who, strangely, I still know absolutely nothing about." The sarcasm had an edge to it that said clearly, '_Don't waste my time_.' "Care to fill me in, Jocobe?"

Jocobe smiled slightly nervously; there was less of a chance of convincing him if he was annoyed. "I beg that you hear me out and allow me to explain after I have told you who, Highest." He sighed almost explosively when Marius nodded imperiously both to his request and to indicate for him to continue. "The boy is Harry James Potter."

If he had expected surprise, or indignation, or, in fact, any blatant reaction he was to be disappointed. Marius merely raised his eyebrow again, this time managing convey his doubts in Jocobe's cognitive abilities. He said only three words, however, "Very well… Explain."

"The boy has been placed into an abusive home, most likely to keep him ignorant and dependent upon Dumbledore when he enters the wizarding world. This is particularly important because Dumbledore, the last one to defeat a dark lord, has immense political power. If the young Potter were to manage his celebrity and act properly and accomplish a few minor feats in his life he could, conceivably, easily replace Dumbledore when the old man passes." He searched The Highest's eyes to see if he was following, and when he was sure he was he continued. "Now imagine, if you will, what would happen if The Guild were to "rescue" the young Potter from his abuse and teach him all about magic; give him a place of his own in the world and after the abuse he has suffered he would be forever in our debt. From there it would be a simple thing to poison him against the wizarding world that killed his parents, condemned his innocent godfather to Azkaban, and finally condemned him to an abusive household to keep him ignorant. By the time he is old enough to go to Hogwarts we would have a loyal servant absolutely focused upon furthering The Guild's goals and the destruction of the wizarding world."

The Highest sat in still in his seat, his eyes distant as if watching the future Jocobe described. When he finally seemed to come back to himself he searched Jocobe's face carefully, "The Guild is strong, but even The Guild would not survive the wrath of the wizarding world if we were to kidnap their young hero. The best we could hope for would be that they never discovered who took him, but we would be incapable of hiding his magical signature from their searches."

"I have already considered that, Highest, and I suggest we replace the young boy with a Doppelganger, that way the wizarding world would have no reason to search for him." This would be the most difficult part in convincing The Highest, Doppelgangers were expensive propositions for only a few days – the potions and other magical paraphernalia to pass one individual off as identical to another were very expensive and got progressively more so the longer one had to remain in disguise; to use one for years would cost a fortune.

This finally garnered a reaction, more than a raised eyebrow, from the man; unfortunately it was an incredulous snort. "A Doppelganger? Tell me Jocobe, where exactly is this doppelganger going to come from? Who is going to pay him to give up years of his life to play an abused little boy? Who is going to pay to provide him with the necessary equipment? How exactly are we going to continually provide him with those materials in secret over the course of the years?" He shook his head slightly, seemingly at the absurdity of the idea. "I don't believe you truly understand how expensive a Doppelganger would be, even if we only needed it for three years – the shortest anyone has ever completed their apprenticeships, and you can be assured that a little boy with no prior magical knowledge will take far longer. Let me put it simply, it would easily cost a hundred thousand galleons a year, likely near double that in fact. No, young Jocobe, The guild does not have a million galleons to throw away on the off chance this little idea of yours plays out."

Jocobe almost smiled, "You're forgetting something, Highest." He paused for a moment to increase the effect, "You are forgetting the Potter fortune." The Highest's eyes pierced him, pinning him to the spot and he knew that this would be the moment of his ultimate decision. He met his mentor's eyes with as much determination and conviction as he could muster. At last The Highest leaned back in his chair, a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

"Do it."

To Serve

Jocobe is pronounced Yo • kobe

This story takes place in a world where the worst dark lord in history claims far more than a mere few hundred lives in his reign of terror; in other words, in a more realistic and mature world than our beloved Harry Potter roamed.

A faction that calls themselves The Guild and practices a very different kind of magic than the wizarding world take interest in the young Harry Potter, this story is what became of their interference in fate.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N This will be AU from the end of fourth year (the earlier years are just like the books)**

"Ah, Severus, how goes it with Mister Potter? Progress I hope." Albus Dumbledore asked as his potions professor stormed into his office.

Snape smiled almost cruelly, "Oh, the boy will never be able to learn to be an Occlumens, Albus. And this time you can't claim it is merely my hatred for him that is holding him back." He seated himself before Albus in one of the office chairs without being invited. "He has a block somewhere in his subconscious that is actively preventing him from learning. Until it is removed he won't even be able to learn to even clear his mind."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly, "A Block? And it is actively preventing him, not just passively?"

Snape nodded the regal look both augmented and spoiled by his sneer. "Do you doubt my abilities to detect a block?"

"No, no. Not at all, Severus, I suppose I was merely hoping that it could be something else." He paused, pondering what it might mean for young Harry to have a block in his mind and memory. "Could you determine anything from the block? How old or how extensive it is perhaps?"

Snape's smile finally gave away to a fierce scowl. "No, I was unable determine anything about it, other than it is extremely strong, that is one of the reasons I have come here, I shall need your assistance if I am to break it."

"Of course, Severus, if you and Mr. Potter are not averse, I think it shall be best if we try to remove it immediately." Dumbledore said as he stood to move around his desk.

Severus nodded curtly, "I assumed as much, Headmaster. I have called Poppy to come and have left the boy in the hospital wing." Snape stood as well following Dumbledore as he weaved his way through the cluttered office, down the spiral staircase, and passed the gargoyle at the base.

They made their way towards the hospital wing tensely, only the shuffle of robes and tapping of their shoes disturbing the silence. Finally Dumbledore stopped before the hospital doors and turned to face Severus, "Have you explained to Harry what is going on, yet?"

Snape sneered, "The boy will trust your judgment. He need know no more." With that he slid around Dumbledore and pushed wide the doors making his way into the hospital wing towards the anxiously waiting Poppy Pomphrey and Harry Potter. Dumbledore followed a step behind him with a sigh.

"Dumbledore," Poppy exclaimed, "what is it now that I must be called from St. Mungos during the break?" Her gaze inspected both Dumbledore and Harry, almost as if expecting one of them to sprout a grievous wound any moment.

"If we might all take seats I shall explain to both you and young Harry here what has brought us together today." As he spoke he drew his wand from his robe and flourished it lightly and four of the chairs around the room instantly flew towards them, settling a few feet away in a comfy circle. Even as they all moved to take their seats Dumbledore twitched his wand again and his chair grew large bright purple cushions with small yellow ducks swimming around it. The slightly twitch of amusement his moth made at the others' looks of amusement and exasperation was hidden by his beard. "Now, Severus has told me that while he was trying to teach you Occlumency he discovered a block in your subconscious that is preventing you from learning how to clear your mind and eventually become an Occlumens. He brought you here so that he and I might remove this block from your mind." In typical Dumbledore fashion he said all this as if commenting on the strange cloud pattern that he'd seen a few days ago.

"Um, Professor, if I've got a block maybe we shouldn't get rid of it, I mean what if my mind blocked it for a reason." Harry said nervously, not liking the idea of missing memories, but apprehensive about what exactly he might be missing.

"Ah, perhaps I have not made myself clear, the block in your mind exists purely in your subconscious." When that failed to garner the correct response from either Poppy or Harry, though Snape seemed to understand perfectly, Dumbledore continued. "Occasionally people will go through a traumatic experience that the mind cannot handle, when that happens a block is formed in between the conscious and subconscious mind, preventing the person from remembering. However, the block you have exists purely within your subconscious, instead of being between the two. That is only possible when the block is placed there by outside forces."

Harry's eyes widened considerably, "You mean someone obliviated me or something?"

Dumbledore seemed to ponder this for a second, "No, I don't believe it was obliviation, if what Professor Snape says of the strength of the block is accurate, which I am sure it is, then obliviation would not have been sufficient. I am sorry to have to say this, but it is likely that what you remember to have happened after the TriWizard tournament at the end of this last year is unlikely to be what truly occurred. It is the only time I can think that anyone with ill intent would have had access to you for long enough to be able to place a block on you."

Harry inhaled sharply and paled drastically. " Can it be removed?" His breaths continued to come sharply and he wasn't getting any of his color back.

Dumbledore observed him for a moment before turning to Madame Pomphrey, "I believe a calming drought is in order, if you will Poppy." This seemed to burst her own bubble of shock and after she gave Harry a brief glance she bustled off, returning moments later with a vial of light blue potion.

"Drink this, Dear." She said as she gently grasped Harry's arm to get his attention and offered him the drink. His eyes snapped to her and then to the potion vial, hesitating only a moment before taking the vial and draining it in one gulp. The effect was almost instantaneous; his breathing slowed as color returned to his cheeks and his eyelids drifted slightly shut, leaving him to observe the others with a half-lidded relaxed gaze.

When eyes settled on Dumbledore he seemed to gather himself, "Can you remove the block, Professor?" his voice slurring a tiny bit.

"Yes, Harry, we can. However, it will be quite uncomfortable to you and you may require medical attention when we are done, depending upon what was blocked. Now, with your consent, we shall remove it currently. The Calming Drought should help in keeping you from fighting the process despite its discomfort." Dumbledore peered into Harry's eyes expectantly.

Nodding slightly Harry said with a determination that should have been impossible with a double dose of Calming Drought, "Do it, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded and stood. Severus stood as well taking a position next to Dumbledore with his wand drawn. "Now Harry, I am going to restrain you so that you can't break our gaze's while this is happening, it will require the utmost care and skill to remove the block without causing any damage. Do you understand?" Harry nodded, looking at Dumbledore expectantly. "Very well then." With that Dumbledore flourished his wand in a few complicated gestures and the all chairs except Harry's slid a few feet away, giving them room, and Harry stiffened in his seat – suddenly finding himself incapable of moving or even blinking. "Try to relax and allow your mind to wander, Severus and I will do the rest."

Dumbledore glanced at Snape and at his nod he turned back to Harry raised his wand while gazing into his eyes and both Professors spoke simultaneously, "Legillimens."

**A/N A little shorter than I wanted and perhaps not as clear but the next chapter should both muddle and clear it some.**


	3. Chapter 3

Harry ran as fast as his small legs could carry him. Dudley and his friends were playing 'tag' again. Except he was always the one being tagged and they had decided early on that if the tagging didn't leave a mark then it wasn't valid. They always competed for the number of points they could make, seeing who could tag him the most. So he ran and hoped that he was lucky enough to lose them in the admittedly straight forward maze of suburbia; he supposed it was a good thing his cousin was so dumb, else he and his friends might have figured out how the grid pattern of houses worked.

Before this summer his cousin Dudley had never bothered to expend energy to go after his cousin, and probably never would have if it hadn't been for his uncle Vernon. His cousin and gang had decided to play the first game of tag just a few days after the end of his first year of kindergarten, in which Dudley had found his loyal cohorts. The game had started out innocently enough until Dudley, being so fat and slow, had been tagged and been unable to tag anyone else; unfortunately for Harry his cousin had spotted him, sitting outside of number Four weeding the garden and had seen an easy target. Dudley had proceeded to tag Harry by shoving his face into the flower bed, a rather unpleasant indoctrination into the game. It probably would have ended there too if it hadn't been for his uncle, having witnessed the act, encouraging Dudley; "That's right Dudders. You show that Freak his place." Then later had discovered that showing his father just how he had 'showed that Freak' would get him rewards of cash and sweets.

Piers Polkiss, perhaps the most intelligent of Dudley's friends and the only one that knew Harry's name, had dubbed their games of 'Tag' as 'Harry Hunting,' and Harry desperately hoped that this game of theirs wouldn't be fun enough to them for the name to stick. It didn't seem Harry was going to get his wish.

Harry was jarred from his thoughts by a pair of immovable posts that materialized before him in the form of a pair of legs. Picking himself up from where he had fallen Harry looked fearfully at the imposing man in front of him, "I- I'm terribly sorry, sir. I didn't see you there. I mean I wasn't looking. I'm sorry." Throwing a look over his shoulder Harry saw Dudley standing at the corner of the street a little ways away, panting and waiting to see whether the adult would leave so the chase could start up again.

"That is quite all right, young sir. I wasn't watching where I was going either, but perhaps this is fortuitous because I am unfamiliar with this neighborhood and I'm afraid I have lost my way. Would you, young sir, be so kind as to lead me back to my cousin's house on Wisteria Walk?"

Harry blinked up at the man not sure he understood for a moment before throwing another fearful look at Dudley and his gang. "O-of course, sir." Looking to the nearest street sign Harry squinted to make out the blurry letters; it took a moment but soon enough he had made out the words on the sign and that with his familiarity from spending the past week fleeing from Dudley allowed him to confidently lead the man away from Dudley's gang and towards Wisteria Walk. "It's, um, this way, sir." Harry stopped himself from reaching up to take the man's hand to lead him; remembering at the last moment that adults hate when Freaks touch them.

When they had walked a few blocks and Dudley's gang had given up and stopped following the man finally spoke again, having ignored Harry's frequent fearful looks. "Tell me, young man, what is your name?"

"Um, Harry, sir. My name is Harry."

"Ah Harry, and how old are you Harry?"

"I'm three and three-quarters, sir."

"Three and three-quarters you say. Hmm, just my luck, I happen to be looking for a Harry that is three and three quarters years old, and you just might be the right one." The man smiled benignly down at the nervous boy. "Do you think you're the right Harry?"

Shaking his head vehemently Harry said quickly, "I'm sorry, sir, but I couldn't be, I'm just-" Harry stopped himself from saying a Freak, he was hoping if he didn't say it then the man might not notice. "I'm just me, Harry."

"Oh? Pity. Well then, just Harry, do you think you could tell me where I might find a three and three-quarters year old Harry Potter?"

Harry's eyes widened comically and he stumbled to a stop, staring up at the strange man. "Sir? My name is Harry Potter, and, um, I don't know of any others. Least not around here I don't."

The stranger smiled brightly, "Really! Then you must be the Harry I'm looking for. This is most excellent." He declared in a cheery voice.

"I am, sir? Why are you looking for me?" Harry asked, curiosity overriding his sense and making him forget Freaks aren't supposed to ask questions.

"Well you, Harry Potter, are a very special boy, you are different than any other boy, and I am here to offer you an opportunity to go to a place just for you." The man said happily. Harry looked down at his feet, his eyes stinging and a painful lump rising in his throat. The man clearly knew he was a Freak and couldn't be left around normal people, he was just too polite to say it outright. Harry knew that the man was here to take him away where he couldn't contaminate normal people. "So, Harry, would you like to come with me to a place where you can reach your full potential?" Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat and he nodded despondently without looking up, knowing he would see the same triumphant gleam in his eyes that his aunt always had when she was about to tell him how pathetic he was.

**A/N If you have somehow not picked up on the fact, this chapter is a flashback that was unlocked from the previous chapter. My question to you as readers would you prefer it if I continued to have occasional flashbacks (either inserted into future chapters or heading those chapters) that explain the circumstances or would you rather I slipped that information directly into the text of the chapter? I personally am leaning towards having a flashback heading most chapters that may or may not highlight some feature of magic or the source of some other situation that the reader ought to know of for the story to make sense.**

**Also anyone who either sees a mistake that I should correct in this or wouldn't mind beta-ing this is most welcome to it.**


End file.
